Tokyo, 3 October, /AJMEDIA/
Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is planning to visit Singapore and Malaysia in early October in preparation for hosting a summit marking the 50th anniversary of Japan-ASEAN friendship next year, government sources said.
Hayashi is also expected to discuss regional security amid increasing Chinese expansionism in the East and South China seas with the two countries, both members of the strategically important Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
He will consider visiting the two countries during a three-day weekend through Oct. 10 and will meet his Singaporean and Malaysian counterparts Vivian Balakrishnan and Saifuddin Abdullah respectively, the sources said.
In seeking greater ties with the two countries, Hayashi is expected to call for support of the international rules-based order and for achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific in opposition to any unilateral attempts to alter the status quo in the region.
Among other issues he is likely to bring up are the political crisis in Myanmar, where the military toppled the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup, and responses to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Singapore is the only ASEAN member to have sanctioned Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, and Hayashi intends to discuss the aggression with his Singaporean counterpart.
This year, Malaysia celebrates the 40th anniversary of its Look East Policy that seeks to emulate Japan’s example in economic development. Hayashi is expected to commit to furthering bilateral ties and discuss issues including nuclear testing and missile launches by North Korea in talks with the Malaysian foreign minister.
This week alone, North Korea has so far fired five ballistic missiles in three separate provocations, including two on Thursday.
